BBQ Chicken Pizza

 

It's certainly been a while since I last posted, but we've had a super busy summer!  Being a working mom has forced me to come up with simple, quick dinners for the week that don't require us spending half the night prepping in the kitchen (and the other half cleaning up all those dishes!)  I'm excited to share one of favorite dinners we've been making lately, and it's actually pretty quick and manageable for a weeknight!

My friend Kathleen gave me this recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza, and it reminded me of the version from California Pizza Kitchen.  This is such a simple pizza to throw together, but the flavors are fresh, bold, and oh-so-tasty!

Typically homemade pizza is not my idea of a weeknight meal, but hear me out.  One of our favorite go-to summer dinners is to marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing and cook them on the grill.  We like to double the amount of chicken and save half for another meal.  Here's a wise tip I learned for working moms: "cook once, eat twice" - it's so true!  And if you can repurpose what you've cooked to create two different meals, that's even better in my book.

Having the chicken already cooked is a huge time-saver, so let's move on to the other time-suck: the dough.  My favorite pizza dough recipe makes enough for two large pizzas, so make a batch on a weekend, freeze the dough, and move the bag of frozen dough from the freezer the the fridge the morning you plan to make your pizza.  Now all that's left is chopping some onion and cilantro!  A quick dinner that tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 batch pizza dough
1 - 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped*
your favorite BBQ sauce, amount varies
shredded Colby cheese (approx. 2 cups)
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
cilantro, chopped, for finishing

*In a pinch, you can use precooked chicken strips from your grocery's deli!

Directions:
1. Place pizza stone in a cold oven.  Heat oven to 500F and preheat stone for at least 30 minutes, preferably 60 minutes (if you have time!).

2. Shape dough into a large round on a piece of parchment paper.  Brush crust lightly with olive oil.

3. Top dough with BBQ sauce as you would do with traditional pizza sauce.  Add chopped chicken, chopped red onion, and shredded cheese.

4. Transfer pizza onto a baking sheet or pizza peel and slip onto the preheated baking stone.  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes (watch closely as ovens vary) until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

5. Slide pizza onto baking sheet or pizza peel and transfer to a large cutting board surface. Allow to cool for several minutes, slice, and top with fresh cilantro.  ENJOY!

Wouldn't you rather spend your time looking at this face than slaving over a hot stove??? :-)